The Mindswap
by Dimatariel
Summary: Ever been a man trapped in a woman's body? Or the opposite? Our two "nemesis" Animorphs, Rachel and Marco, learn how it is to be living the other one's life when a playful Drode decide to swap their minds! Please R&R!
1. Marco: A Slightly Playful Drode

Right, this is my second Animorphs fanfic! I prefer writing it in a humerous way, so this is another "funny" story, like my other (The Hostages) Ani-fic...  
  
Anyways, this chapter is really sort of the introduction to the problem occuring in this story, so just hang in there and the second chapter where all the fun starts will be out in no time!  
  
Still - please read, and review!  
  
***  
  
  
  
MARCO: A SLIGHTLY PLAYFUL DRODE  
  
  
  
My name is Marco.  
  
What more is there to say that you don't already know? These books have been printing like crazy now, I think about every person on this planet has heard of us. Why tell the story of the Yeerks all over again?  
  
This particular story is not about the Yeerks.  
  
It's basically about a very handsome, modest and charming young man who goes through a living hell.  
  
That's right. I'm talking of me, Marco the Magnificent.  
  
Unfortunately, I fear after reading this story you won't find it as terrible as I do. I actually fear you might enjoy it, or be amused by it. God forbid. Because this is no joke.  
  
"So, if I was to take off right now... I mean, run about like a madman and then decide instead to go home and watch some TV - what would you say to that?"  
  
"We'd kick your ass, Marco. This is teamwork, and you're a part of this team."  
  
"Oh yeah, right. Thanks, Rachel. That makes me feel oh so much better."  
  
We were all wandering through the forest. It wasn't like one of those normal occasions when we'd wander through the forest - those being the occasions when something completely insane and terribly dangerous was about to be decided.  
  
No, this was a fully peaceful operation.  
  
It was a school thing, really. Orienteering, I think it's called. The school board had made this looney disicion that every now and then, the students were to be taken out of school for a day and have what they'd called "nature day".  
  
No doubt Cassie loved that day.  
  
And on this particular "nature day" (seriously, who came up with that name?), the school had decided to send their kids out on orienteering in the forest. We were devided into groups, using a handy map to search through the forest for these special posts or whatever, and then if we were the first to gather the information from all the posts, we'd win.  
  
Sounds horrible, doesn't it? I know. But don't worry. There was something about to turn up that day that was to be worse than some boring walkabout in the forest...  
  
As you could easily imagine, it was Cassie taking care of EVERYTHING. She had the map and the necessarily equipment, and she was leading us through the thick of the forest, claiming wherever we went to be "a short cut that is sure to take us into the lead in this thing"! How she managed to sound so enthusiastic, I'll never know.  
  
"Why would you want to take off, anyway?" Jake asked me while waving his hand at a fly or something.  
  
"Well," I said, "apart from this being the most boring this I've ever had to do in this forest - and that speaks for itself, mind you - there's actually a very fascinating show on bikini fashion I'd love to watch right now. Why do they ever air those things when people are at school?"  
  
"So immature losers like yourself won't be able to watch it," Rachel grinned.  
  
"Oh, haha," I sighed. "Very funny. Immature, me? Bah. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Coming from someone as stupid as you for that matter, Rachel. D'you hear me? I'm not immature. You're stupid. Haha."  
  
"Will you two ever stop fighting?" Jake asked. "It's like The Odd Couple or something."  
  
"Except we're The Young Couple," Rachel said, then added, quickly: "And we're not a couple."  
  
"Damn right," I agreed. "Hell freezes over the day I find myself in a relationship with Rachel."  
  
"Then we're agreed."  
  
"Yes, so we are."  
  
"Great."  
  
"Fine!"  
  
"Oh please, just SHUT UP," Tobias said.  
  
Yes, Tobias was there as well. And Ax.  
  
You see, at first we'd decided just to get through the day like we would do any other day, but then we thought: Maybe if Bird-Boy and Ax-Man were to help us out with finding these posts, we'd be finished earlier and go home earlier. So that's what was going to happen.  
  
The trouble was, Ax and Tobias couldn't really spot any of the posts from the air, seeing as how they were hidden all too well between the trees. So after a while, both Ax and Tobias morphed into humans and walked with us instead.  
  
"How many posts do we have left to find?" I asked Cassie.  
  
She checked her notes. "Uhm... five. They've all got questions about nature and stuff, so we'll have to cooperate to finish this in time for your bikini watch, Marco."  
  
"Oh, great. This is sooo gonna be the worst day of the week."  
  
Yep, I was right about that. I just didn't know HOW right.  
  
"You know what would be great now?" I said after a while of us walking in silence.  
  
"You shutting up for a change?" Rachel asked.  
  
"No," I said, angrily, "but for the Ellimist or something to turn up and give us all the answers to those posts! Then we wouldn't have to do this wandering through the damn forest-thingy."  
  
"But it's good for you!" Cassie said, laughing at my misery.  
  
"The Ellimist would never do a thing like that," Jake said. "It's too small for him, wouldn't you say? If he was to help us out with questions, he wouldn't help us with the questions for some orienteering, he'd rather be helping us out in the finals of Jeopardy or something."  
  
"Yeah, but we're not on Jeopardy," I argued. "Now what about Crayak? D'you think HE would do it?"  
  
"I doubt it," Jake said. "Although I guess that little thing of his would have."  
  
"The thing?"  
  
"You know, the Drode. He'd love to play around with us. I'm sure he'd do it, just to mess everything up afterwards and then have a laugh."  
  
Jake and the Drode don't exactly get along, as you might have noticed...  
  
The again, who could get along with someone as insane as this slave of Crayak.  
  
All of a sudden, Jake stopped walking. The rest of us went on for a few seconds before we realized he was standing behind.  
  
We turned to face him. He looked concerned, or suspicious, in some way. It's difficult to explain, but it seemed certainly as though something was wrong.  
  
"Jake, my man," I said, "what's wrong?"  
  
He hesitated to answer, but then finally said: "I think something just happened. It felt as though it did... It was really weird!" He walked up to us, and gazed around the group for a second to make sure he had everyone's attention. "It was, well... It felt kind of as it has those times the Eye of Crayak's come to me, if you know what I mean. Only, it wasn't as painful as it usually is. It was like, a laugh, only it terrified and concerned me."  
  
The rest of us just stood there staring at him for a moment.  
  
"Jake, did you even hear yourself talk?" I finally asked.  
  
"Would you please shut up?" Rachel said angrily to me. "Maybe he's right! Who knows when that lunatic of a Drode - or Crayak for that matter - could turn up. Nobody knows better than Jake how that feels."  
  
"What are you saying, Jake?" Cassie asked. "Do you think Crayak just contacted you in some way?"  
  
"It sounds so weird, I know," he replied. "Seeing as we just talked about him and everything, but I swear I could FEEL it was either him or that stupid Drode. It didn't feel good at all. It actually felt like a positive thing at first, then turned into something bad..."  
  
"Like in a nightmare, where Carmen Electra turns into the Hulk," I said helpfully.  
  
Jake looked at me. "Uhm... Yeah, just like that."  
  
"So what was it, really?" Tobias asked. "I mean, do you know what it was?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Jake said. "But..." He hesitated for a minute, and seemed to be thinking really hard. Then he looked up at Cassie. "Hand me those notes, Cassie. The one where you've written the answers to the other posts."  
  
"But why?" she asked curiously as she handed them to him.  
  
He looked at the notes for a second, then his concerned face turned even more concerned. He handed the notes around for us all to see.  
  
When it reached me, I almost felt my chin drop. All the answers were there. But not only those from the posts we'd been to - I mean ALL OF THEM. Including the ones from the five last posts we yet hadn't visited.  
  
"Oh God," Cassie whispered. "How did that happen?"  
  
"It must have been Crayak," Ax said definite. "Like Prince Jake said, he is playing a game with us."  
  
"No," Jake said, and he seemed very certain as he spoke. "It's not Crayak. The Drode. I know it. This is like his playtime, his spare hours, when he's not serving Crayak. And he's chosen to fool around with us."  
  
"How can you be so sure?" Rachel asked.  
  
"I just know it. Believe me, this was exactly what I felt. Those answers, they were that positive sensation I first felt."  
  
"But you said in turned into the Hulk," I argued.  
  
"Yes, it did." Jake nodded, seemingly worried. "But I don't know what that negative thing was. I can't tell. I don't think... I don't think it has happened yet."  
  
"All right, what exactly is going on?" I asked angrily. "Are we on a quiz-show or something? That old show 'Candid camera'? On this week's edition, Mr. Drode is going to fool around with the Animorphs' orienteering game! Stay tuned!"  
  
"Just SHUT UP," Rachel said furiously. "It's serious, haven't you noticed? This Drode is actually quite powerful, and we don't know what he's up to!"  
  
I nodded. "He's obviously going to take something back," I suggested. "I mean, he gave us the answers, and I'm sure he did that because we said we wanted the Ellimist to do it for us, although that was a joke... In any case, I bet the bad feeling Jake had is reflecting on something bad that's going to happen to us in the next few minutes. Something the Drode choose to do in return for those answers."  
  
"Which were the positive feeling," Cassie concluded.  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"That makes sense," Tobias said. "That idiot Drode is probably just working out how to make us repay his debt. This is not going to be fun."  
  
And oh by God, how Tobias was right.  
  
It was NOT going to be fun.  
  
"Wait," Jake suddenly said, "I think it's going to happen now...! This damn Drode must be basically communicating through me... I feel as though I'm going... well, bad!"  
  
He said some other stuff, but I didn't really pay attention anymore.  
  
Something weird was happening to me. I felt dizzy. Everything around me started to spin, and all I could do was focus on keeping my balance. What was going on?  
  
Suddenly, swift as lightening, it felt as though I was pulled harshly out of the group and was floating above all of them, observing as an audience or something. It's difficult to explain. The weirdest part was I could still see myself down there. as if I'd left my body or something.  
  
I'm going crazy, I thought, still trying to fight the dizziness which was stronger than ever now, even though I believed I was floating in mid-air.  
  
All of a sudden, a horrible pain came over me, and I instantly felt it coming from my eyes. It hurt to watch! It hurt to keep my eyes open! And instinctively, I closed them. The pain vanished.  
  
I hesitated for a little while, still keeping my eyes firmly closed, until I finally dared to open them and look around once more.  
  
I discovered three things when I did this.  
  
First of all, the pain in my eyes was gone.  
  
Second, the dizziness had vanished.  
  
And third, I was still standing in the forest with all my friends, only this time, I was facing myself.  
  
An identical copy of ME stood there, right in front of me.  
  
It was ME!  
  
  
  
***  
  
And there we are, first chapter. Reviews, please?! 


	2. Jake: Marco vs Rachel

Second chapter! This is where all the FUN begins, haha! Enjoy, lads - read and review!  
  
***  
  
  
  
JAKE: MARCO VS. RACHEL  
  
  
  
My name is Jake.  
  
It all happened within seconds.  
  
At first, we didn't notice anything. It was like we stood there quiet for a moment, thinking of what the Drode might have done. Then, something which sounded like a sort of yelp from Rachel distracted us.  
  
"Oh God!" she cried. "Oh God! Oh God, oh God, oh God...!"  
  
She started rubbing herself in the face, then she yelped again and took a crazy jump back, waving away her arms, as if they had terrified her in some way.  
  
"Hey," I said, "relax! What's wrong, Rach?"  
  
"Nothing, what do you mean, 'what's wrong'?" Marco said. Then his eyes widened. "What just happened to my voice?"  
  
"Nothing, you sound fine," I said. He wasn't the problem now, Rachel was. It seemed like something had happened to her, she looked terrified. "What's wrong, Rachel?"  
  
"I'm telling you, nothing," Marco said again. "But this doesn't quite feel right, though... I sound so weird! And... You're all so tall!" He started hawking, as if trying to clear his voice.  
  
"Stop it, Marco, you're fine," I said annoyed.  
  
"What do you mean, 'Marco'?" he asked. Then he looked over to Rachel for a second, who was still freaking out. "All right, who the HELL are you?!" he said. "Where's the idiot? Did he morph me?"  
  
"I swear I didn't!" Rachel moaned. "Oh my God, oh my God... You must have morphed ME, Rach!"  
  
"All right, ehm, you guys?" Tobias said. "Rachel, Marco? You're acting just a teeny weeny bit strange here. What's going on?"  
  
"I don't know," Marco said, looking concerned. "I'm..." He hesitated for a moment, then took a quick glance at himself. "Oh. My God."  
  
"Yeah, that's what I said!" Rachel cried, staring madly at him, rubbing her hands together and constantly pulling her blond hair away from her face. "Listen to me! I sound like a GIRL! And I look like one! I've never looked like a girl! This is completely insane!"  
  
I stepped into the middle of our little circle and took a glance at both Marco and Rachel. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, but could the two of you please shut up? Something must have happened."  
  
"Yeah, damn right it has," Marco said angrily. "That idiot morphed me! And I... That's the strange part, I would never have morphed him voluntarily."  
  
"You didn't," Rachel whispered, terrified. "And I didn't. I think it's the Drode..."  
  
Marco's eyed widened and stared at her. "What are you saying? God, I sound weird."  
  
Rachel rubbed her hands frantically together. "Don't you see what's happened here, Rach? You're me! And I'm you! Only we know it! Oh God, this is so totally insane, I've never felt so uncomfortable...! I'm going to go crazy..."  
  
"Shut up, both of you!" I said. "And make some sense out of this."  
  
"Yeah, what's going on?" Cassie asked concerned.  
  
I looked at both Marco and Rachel, studying the two. They both seemed to be examinating their own bodies, breathing frantically and looking very nervous, as if something completely unbelievable had just happened.  
  
And I was beginning to suspect it might had.  
  
"Did you morph each other?" Tobias said.  
  
"How could they have without us noticing?" Ax said with a laugh. "That is ridiculous."  
  
"I don't know what happened," Rachel whined. "My eyes felt like they were on fire, and so I closed them. When I opened them, she'd morphed me!"  
  
"I think it's the other way 'round," Marco said. "HE morphed ME! While I had my eyes closed."  
  
"So why are you me then?!" Rachel screamed.  
  
"Hey, calm down!" I said, grabbing her by the shoulder. "What's happened to you, Rachel?"  
  
"Yo, over here," Marco said. I turned to face him. "Here I am, cousin," he said.  
  
"This is a very, VERY sick joke," I said nervously. "What have you two done?"  
  
"We didn't do anything," Rachel whispered. "At least I didn't. Who knows what the psycho amazone is up to!"  
  
"Oh, like I would VOLUNTARILY place myself in this position!" Marco screamed. "I would never choose to become YOU, Mr. Chief of the Idiots!"  
  
"Wait," I said, raising my hands to calm them down. Then I turned to Marco again. "Are you saying that you're..."  
  
"Rachel," he completed. "Apparently."  
  
I turned to Rachel. "So that would make you..."  
  
"Marco," she sighed. "With the most feminine voice I've ever spoken with. I never thought I could sound so gay."  
  
"It's because you're a girl, you moron," Marco said.  
  
"Would you please stop fighting for ONE second?!" I asked. They calmed down, and I could finish: "Now obviously, we have a bit of situation here. If these two guys aren't playing some huge prank on us -"  
  
"Believe me, we're not," Rachel's voice said.  
  
"- then something really insane's just happened."  
  
"Which is..." Tobias said, hesitating to complete his sentence.  
  
"That they've basically swapped bodies. Or minds, or brains, or whatever."  
  
"I doubt we've swapped brains, just minds," Marco's body said. "This brain is too stupid to be mine."  
  
"Is that so?" Rachel said. "Well... You're stupid."  
  
"Oh my God, it IS Marco," Ax said horrified.  
  
"How on Earth did this happen?" Cassie asked.  
  
"It must have been that Drode!" Rachel - which apparently was Marco - said. "It must have been! He gave us the answers to those stupid posts, then he swapped Rachel and me! I'm Rachel! I'm a girl! I'm in the lunatic's body!"  
  
"Relax," I said nervously. "Don't freak out, now is not the time."  
  
"You're right," said the Rachel in the Marco-body, running his fingers through his hair. "God, that felt weird! It's so short. You shouldn't have cut you hair, Marco."  
  
"I know," Rachel's voice sighed.  
  
I rubbed my temple, trying to make sense of things. "All right," I finally said. "It sounds completely insane, but... Here's what happened: The Drode, most likely, gave us the answers to those posts, for some reason. In return, he gave Rachel and Marco a mindswap."  
  
"Oh, this is just like that Halloween special from 'Two Guys and a Girl'," Rachel's voice said. "Where Pete and Ashley swapped brains."  
  
"Sounds all right, you're as dumb as Pete was," Marco's voice said, grinning evily. "And I'm the witty Ashley. Sounds great."  
  
"Isn't there some rule that says we have to accept anything that's done to us?" Tobias asked. "With the Ellimist and Crayak and everything, there is."  
  
"Maybe the Drode plays by his own rules," Ax said.  
  
"It seems so," I said. "But he can't just do this! He can't just swap their minds like that! That's crazy! That's completely... Oh, I don't know what to call it."  
  
"Insane," Rachel (which was Marco) said. "I agree. I mean, look at me! I have a female voice, long BLOND hair and a girl's body parts! I'm... Hey!" She suddenly grinned, taking a closer overlook at her body. "That's kind of funny...!"  
  
"Whoa!" Marco beamed. "What do you think you're doing? Don't look at my body like that! That's mine!"  
  
"It feels closer to me," Rachel smiled.  
  
"Hey!" Tobias suddenly said, turning towards Rachel. "This isn't a joke, Marco. I swear, if you -"  
  
"Hey, calm down!" I said, pushing Tobias away. "Marco's not doing anything with Rachel's body. Right?" I said, looking at Rachel's body, with Marco's mind.  
  
"Okay, fine," she mumbled.  
  
"And the same goes for Rachel," I added.  
  
"Sure," Marco said. "I wouldn't touch him even with tongs, I'm gonna stay as clear of any naked part of this body as I can. But I warn you," he said, pointing a threatening finger towards Rachel, "if you fool around with my body, I'll castrate you. I've got the power."  
  
"You wouldn't," Rachel said. "Do you have any idea how much that would hurt you? You'll feel the pain too, sister! Although, I guess you like pain, being the sadistic maniac you are... Fine, I'll stay as clear of touching any parts of your body as I can. But..." she said, with a slight grin.  
  
"What?" Marco's face showed Rachel wasn't far from being completely furious.  
  
"If we remain like this for quite a while - something we should reckon is going to happen - we will eventually have to do some stuff that demands us seing a few body parts, if you know what I'm saying."  
  
Slowly, Rachel realized what that meant.  
  
"Oh GOD!" Marco's voice cried. "I won't touch it! No way! I won't drink any form of liquid, and hopefully I won't have to touch it, or do it. Oh my God... No way."  
  
"That happened on that Halloween special," Rachel smiled. "Ashley went to the bathroom in Pete's body."  
  
"What did she say to that?" Marco asked nervously.  
  
"She said something like, 'Guess what, I just peed standing up.' Sounds fun, doesn't it."  
  
Marco turned to me. "Jake," he (which was Rachel) said, "please. Whatever you've done for me in the past, forget about it. Just PLEASE, find some way of contacting that Drode and make him give me back my body! I can't - I repeat, CAN'T - live a life in THIS..." He waved a hand at his body, implying what he couldn't stand to live with.  
  
"What's so wrong with my body?" Rachel asked, crossing her hands over her chest.  
  
"Hey, don't do that!" Marco said. "Remove the hands, boy! Or I'll kill you!"  
  
"All right, sorry." She took away the hands. "I guess we should find some solution to this. I don't think this body will amuse me too much for too long... It's after all, only Rachel's. Not as nice as I thought it would be."  
  
"Marco, I'm warning you..."  
  
"All right, I'll shut up. As usual."  
  
Hearing Rachel's voice and body do and say all the things Marco, my best friend, usually did and said, gave me the creeps. "We have to contact the Drode in some way, like Marco - sorry, I mean Rachel - said... But I don't know how to do that. Until we get any chance of making contact, I suggest the two of you just go home and rest. You seem a bit upset."  
  
"Let him go home to my house? With my family and my things?" Marco said. "No way!"  
  
"You can't go home, Rach," I said to Marco's body. "And I really think the two of you need some rest. I guess your families aren't at home, and in any case, you could always just spend the day in front of the TV or in your rooms, just making time pass. Without any funny business," I added with a quick glance at Rachel.  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it," Rachel said. "I'm cool."  
  
"All right, so we'll go 'home'," Marco sighed. "Fine. No fooling around. And you, Jake, had better find some way of solving this. You're the one who can communicate with that lunatic, now please get me out of this body before I kill myself."  
  
"Yeah," Rachel's voice agreed, "because that suicide could really affect my body's well being."  
  
  
  
***  
  
There we are! Reviews, please! 


	3. Rachel: Being a Boy

A comment to dark_munkee, who gave me a review on chapter 2:  
  
The reason they all say "oh my God" is because something completely insane just happened, I think that's plausible. It's hard to deal with a situation where you don't believe what's happened actually just happened - see what I mean? So they could easily behave like that.  
  
About the cuss words: I know Applegate never uses cuss words, but she does say that the Animorphs do. On several occasions she comments on them swearing. I prefer a bit of realism in the way that I actually let them say the words out loud in my text, I suppose to just having stuff like "he said a naughty words".  
  
And thirdly: Yes, Ax does say "oh my God". How long has he been on Earth? Maybe five-six years? Surely he's adapted himself, and he's gotten a lot of Earth-like habits, he says so himself. One of them, I believe, is using some Earthy expressions. I've actually seen him say "oh my God" in a book somewhere before, so I believe I can use it as well...  
  
Thank you anyways for your review. :)  
  
  
  
Now, about this chappie! It's not very much action and humour in it, and I'm sorry for that... But I needed this chapter and another one to show how Marco and Rachel do in the other one's home. It'll be a bit of fun in any case, won't it, seeing how Rachel manages in Marco's house?  
  
Reviews, please!  
  
***  
  
  
  
RACHEL: BEING A BOY  
  
  
  
I couldn't believe what I was doing. How was I going to pass off as that lunatic? Wouldn't his father easily understand that I wasn't his son?  
  
On the other hand, how could he suspect me being somebody else? I had the guy's body down to the last detail. One would be crazy to believe an engineered alien had swapped my mind with Marco's.  
  
I reached Marco's house and unlocked the door, then went inside. At least I'd been at his house before, so it wasn't as if I was completely lost. Though I would get some problems if Marco's father turned up and asked me to clear out the kitchen or something. I had no idea where anything belonged.  
  
Luckily, nobody was home. I took of Marco's weary shoes and jacket, and took the steps upstairs to his bedroom.  
  
The first thing I noticed in there, was the big mirror. Of course, it wasn't surprising. Marco had apparently aquired himself this huge full-size mirror so he could overlook himself in all his so-called glory. No guy believes he's as beautiful as Marco does, he's got an ego that is just beyond understanding.  
  
I lined up in front of the mirror and studied myself. Yep, I was Marco all right. At least I looked like him, I didn't feel like him AT ALL.  
  
I ran my fingers through his hair and over his face, trying to adjust to this new, strange feeling. Who knew how long I'd be stuck like this, I thought I might as well get used to it first thing.  
  
I looked around the rest of his room. Messy as ever, it was a horrible sight. Boxers, socks and all other kinds of clothing lay everywhere on the floor, occasionally mixed up with some CDs and videos. His desk was filled with papers, it looked like school work, but when I read it I learned it was just a long list of codes to hack into several illegal servers on the Internet.  
  
Nothing like a real Marco-scheme, huh?  
  
I took a quick glance at his bed, then looked away again. It wasn't all that bad, not messy and it seemed comfy enough. But just the thought of sleeping in Marco's bed made my stomach turn. I would probably have to sleep in his bed! Although I technically WAS him, it still felt weird...  
  
I turned back to the mirror. It was still all Marco to see, no chance whatsoever. Not that I'd expected it to be, of course. This Drode wouldn't end his practical joke this quickly - if he would end it at all.  
  
I studied Marco's face for a moment, and twisted it into a few grimaces, as if trying to get to know his apperance. It didn't feel any more natural to me, it still wasn't the face I was supposed to have. This was a guy's face! Maybe a slightly cute guy's face, but not as cute as he himself believes - and definitely NOT as cute as for me to want it for myself!  
  
I showed Marco's reflection my - or his - tongue, to show my disrespect for him.  
  
"Wow," a voice said.  
  
I quickly turned towards the door, and saw Marco's father staring at me.  
  
"Not too happy with our looks today, Marco?" he grinned.  
  
"Oh, hi, Peter," I stuttered nervously. How would Marco behave in front of his father? I didn't know.  
  
"So I'm just 'Peter' now," he said. "Oh well, I guess that's what happens when the kids grow up, ey? Though I'd prefer it if you sticked to 'dad' for a few more years, Marco. Come on down, help me make dinner."  
  
"Uhm... sure, dad!" I said enthusiastically, still adjusting to Marco's dark voice and acting around his dad. What to do now? I had no idea how this dinner-thing worked out in Marco's family. I mean, it was just him and his father! Did they have special chores? Did they say grace? Did Marco have some special thing he used to say or do? I had NO idea.  
  
"Oh well," I mumbled to myself and followed Marco's dad downstairs. All I had to do, was keep cool. I just had to be Marco. Piece of cake, right?  
  
Yeah, RIGHT...  
  
"All right, dad, what do you want me to do?" I asked "I'm... ready to work!"  
  
"Where'd that enthusiasm come from?" Peter asked as he started unpacking the groceries. "I'll enjoy that while it lasts. Just start on the pizza, would you?"  
  
"Right. The pizza. Sure thing."  
  
Pizza?! This family was making pizza on a Wednesday? How long this take? Baking pizza in the house took forever, we usually never did it apart from in the weekends. Marco and his father must be really into pizza...  
  
All right, so all I had to do was make the dough, then fill it with toppings. No problem, except that it would take hours. But hey, that was Peter's problem, not mine. If he wanted to -  
  
My thoughts ended quickly when I saw what was lying on the table.  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Peter asked me as he'd finished with the groceries. Stick it in the microwave, we don't have all day."  
  
Oh my. This was a simple heat-and-go pizza, the kind that takes fifteen minutes in the microwave oven. This was what Marco and his dad had for dinner? How could that be any good?  
  
"Uhm, dad," I said, hesitatingly putting the frozen pizza into the microwave. "Why do we have to heat it? Couldn't we just make a pizza? Or better yet, buy something else that doesn't take as long to make as a pizza, but that can be made without heating it in the microwave? I mean... It's not very healthy."  
  
Marco's father looked at me for a second, curiously. "That's true, Marco," he finally said. "I guess it would be better for our health to eat something not heated up in the microwave... But you've always preferred it, and since I always get home too late from work to make anything else, I thought we'd come to an agreement on that."  
  
"Yeah, sure, we had," I stuttered, searching for words, "but, you know... I just thought we could do with a bit of variation."  
  
"That's not a bad idea," Peter said. "But if that's what you want, then you're gonna have to do the cooking. I'll never be home in time to do that, you know."  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it," I said, trying to pull a typical "don't worry, I'll handle it" Marco attitude. "I'll do the cooking from now on! Just make sure we have all the things necessary, and I'll get right on it when I come home from school."  
  
"Sound good, pal, we've got a deal," Peter said.  
  
Then we heard a mechanical "DING!", and the pizza was ready.  
  
* * *  
  
I spent some of the evening going through Marco's stuff. I know, I know, it's really mean. But there was nothing else to do! And I still suspected Marco had something to do with this stupid mindswap, and just in case he had, I wanted something rotten to say about his room and his belongings when we met the next time. Just to have a chance to make fun of him.  
  
There wasn't much of interest, though. Marco's room was pretty much filled with clothes and computergames, along with a few school books (amazing he even had any) and notes from classes. No homework was to be found though, although we had three papers to hand in within the next five days. Typical Marco.  
  
One thing surprised me a bit more, though: He owned a book. Or, to be more correct, he owned three, but they all belonged together. It was "The Lord of the Rings", by Tolkien. But they looked as if they'd never even been touched.  
  
I remembered Marco talking about that once, I believe he was supposed to write a paper on the first of the three, but he never managed to finish it. Sure, we were in a battle against evil space slugs, but he still could do his homework like a good boy, couldn't he? That was something I could mock him for the next time we met.  
  
"Marco?" It was Marco's father again, standing in the door.  
  
"Yeah?" I said, turning towards him from the desk, with Marco's hands all over his school books and notes, to study how bad Marco was doing in each subject.  
  
"Wow, books," Peter commented. "This is looking good, Marco. But you've been up here for a few hours now, is something wrong?"  
  
"No," I answered quickly. "What could possibly be wrong? I'm me, Marco, after all, the Magnificant and all that... stuff. I'm great. Why do you ask, dad?"  
  
Marco's father looked at me, clearly shocked. I fear I might have overdone the part as Marco the cool and relaxed. "Well, usually you spend some time around the living room, but I've seen nothing of you since dinner. Sure you're okay? Is there nothing you wanna talk about?"  
  
"Nah, thanks, dad," I said, smiling. "I'm glad you ask, though. You're a great father."  
  
Peter's face seemed even more shocked. "Well, I'm, uhm... glad to hear you think that. Good. Yep."  
  
"Aha," I nodded. "Good indeed."  
  
"So as long as you're okay," he continued, "how about playing a round with me? I borrowed 'Zelda' from this guy at work, what do you say we hit the controls?"  
  
"The... the controls?" I asked uncertain. What did he mean by that?  
  
"Yeah, the Nintendo controls," Peter smiled. "In case you've forgotten. I thought you wanted to try out 'Zelda'?"  
  
"Well..." I hesitated for a minute, knowing Nintendo really wasn't for me. But on the other hand, I couldn't be not-Marco-like, and I'm sure Marco would never turn down a game of Nintendo. But of course, I could act a bit professional, like he used to. "It depends. Is it the newest version?" I asked, trying to remember if there at all was more than one version of 'Zelda'.  
  
"That depends," Marco's dad said, "what's the newest version?"  
  
I pulled Marco's fingers through his hair desperately. The newest version? How could I know what the newest version was? I hadn't a CLUE! "I've... Kind of forgotten it's name. Don't worry, I'll recognize it when I hear it. What's it called?"  
  
"It's 'The Wind Maker', I think," Marco's dad said. "Is that the newest one then?"  
  
"Uhm... yeah, sure," I finally replied, then got up to go and join Marco's father in a game of Nintendo...  
  
We went downstairs, and within few minutes we were right in the universe of 'Zelda'. It was practically impossible. I never understood how to work the controls, where to go on the game or what to do with the extra points and effects. What was going on? Why, WHY did Marco and Jake find this stuff so amazing? It was boring! And more than anything, impossible!  
  
"Wow, you've got a bad day!" Peter laughed as he once more made a much better score than I did. "Maybe it's because you haven't played it before."  
  
"Eh, yeah," I nodded. "Yeah! Haha, you probably sneaked yourself to playing it at work, dad, so you'd be better than me! Didn't you? Haha, admit it!"  
  
Marco's father looked curiously at me. "We don't have a Nintendo at work, Marco. Don't worry, you're just having a bad day at this, normally you'd beat me. Hey, what do you say we play something you're good at?"  
  
"NO!" I quickly replied and put the controls away. Calm down, Rachel. Don't make him suspicious! "No," I added, more calmly. "No, it's no point you getting beat over and over again." I turned towards Marco's father in the couch. I'd almost never talked to him before, and it hit me that he was a very nice person.  
  
But, as a girl, I was certain I sensed something in Peter that maybe Marco hadn't sensed: This man was lonely.  
  
"How are you, dad?" I asked, focusing at his eyes.  
  
"Fine, I beat you," Peter laughed.  
  
"Dad, I'm serious."  
  
"Okay, okay." He stopped smiling and studied what he thought was nothing more than his son Marco. "You wanna talk serious now?"  
  
"Well, I was just wondering how you were. How are things on work, with ladies, stuff like that...?" I asked, trying to sound as shy as Marco would have on a subject like this. I didn't want to make Marco look like an idiot in front of his dad, but I felt it was my duty as a son (or as a daughter, or the son's friend or whatever) to care about the father, after all.  
  
"With ladies?" Peter repeated. "It's... fine, Marco, thanks for caring. It's really fine. Don't worry about it. I'm not really that much into dating now, you know? It's not the time for it. You understand...?" He looked at me, and in him I saw the real, genuine care a father has for his son, and that he was still longing for Marco's mother Eva. I'd never really seen anything quite like it before, my father had never acted like this in front of me.  
  
Was dad missing mom at all? Could that be possible that he felt just like Marco's dad did?  
  
I thought about this for a while that evening, but got something else on my mind when I realized I had to go to bed - Marco's bed...  
  
  
  
***  
  
There we are! Fun, isn't it? Well... anyways, reviews, please! 


	4. Marco: Being a Girl

FINALLY another chappie! So sorry it's been so long, I've been busy with my other fic, school work, a play I'm co-writing and so on... Well, here it is, anyways! It's not the best one in this fic, but it's better than nothing, I guess...  
  
***  
  
  
  
MARCO: BEING A GIRL  
  
  
  
There was something very obvious which I noticed when I first entered Rachel's home as Rachel: It was really a girl's house.  
  
In this house there lived FOUR girls, I just realized. Rachel, her mother Naomi and her two little sisters Sarah and Jordan. How I was going to cope spending the days with these chicks, I had no idea.  
  
But of course, there were some positive aspects of this situation, I realized as I passed the hall mirror and spotted Rachel's body - controlled by me - in it. It wasn't all that bad. I tried for a second to make her look kind of nasty, like a more teenage-like version of Carmen Electra, but I quickly gave it up.  
  
I realized it actually felt kind of bad to be doing it. It wasn't as much fun when it was me on the inside doing these things, if nothing else it only made me feel slightly gay. Which was really freaky - maybe even more freaky than the fact that there was me inside of a girl's body...  
  
Really insane.  
  
Really.  
  
I left the mirror and went off to examine Rachel's room. I'd been in there before, many times, but now it was on my own premises. I could investigate the room I'd be spending my next days in without Rachel breathing down my neck, making sure I stayed clear of her underwear drawers.  
  
No, I would never look through those. Seriously, that would be a mean thing to do. I don't do mean things, normally.  
  
Rachel's room was as feminine as always - posters on the walls, and every possible piece of furniture had its standard female magazine lying about on it. I picked up the closest 'Seventeen' and flipped through the pages.  
  
"Jesus," I muttered to myself, just to hear a speaking voice. "Do girls really read all this stuff?"  
  
"You do too, you know," a voice said from the door.  
  
I turned to see Rachel's younger sister Jordan standing there, smiling at me. "Hey, Rach," she said.  
  
"Yeah, hey," I replied casually, throwing the magazine away. "How was your day?"  
  
"Uhm... Fine?" she replied. Apparently it wasn't common for Rachel to ask her sisters that. I always thought female siblings were kinder to each other than male, but maybe I was wrong. There's a lot of things I don't know about girls.  
  
"Oh, great," I said.  
  
"Hey, uhm, Rachel? I was wondering if you could do me a favour."  
  
I hesitated. What would Rachel reply to a question like that? No way, you little brat, I hate you?  
  
No, she wouldn't say that. Rachel's a sensible person. She'd ask what the favour is first, then decide whether or not she should do it.  
  
"Depends," I said. "What is it?"  
  
"Well, our class at school is having our picture taken tomorrow, and our teacher asked us to look our best, and I kind of wanted to look really nice for the picture..."  
  
"Sound fair," I commented.  
  
"So I was wondering if maybe you could give me a perm?"  
  
I looked up, eyes wide. "A what?"  
  
"A perm. You know, curl my hair?"  
  
"Ehm, uhm," I mumbled. How to get out of this?! How in the world would I be able to curl Jordan's hair?! "Can't, uhm, can't mom do that?"  
  
"She's home late today, don't you remember? She said you should fix dinner. It's all bought, you just have to cook it. So can you help me tonight, and perm my hair? Please, Rach, I really want that perm!"  
  
Her cute, begging eyes was rather hard to ignore. But what could I do? I had no idea how to 'perm' hair! "Well... I'd love to, but... uhm, well, curling hair takes a while, and... I've got a lot of homework to do, and a lot of magazines to read. Yeah, so I wish I could help you, but I can't."  
  
"Oh, please, Rach?" Jordan begged.  
  
"No, no, sorry," I decided definite. "I haven't got time. It takes too much time."  
  
"Then could you at least give me a pedicure? All the girls in my class were so envious the last time you did that. It doesn't take too long!"  
  
"A what?" I asked.  
  
"Pedicure!" Jordan repeated. "Do my nails, you idiot. Could you at least do THAT for your sister?"  
  
"Yeah, uhm, sure," I finally replied, deciding it was best not to entirely ruin Rachel's relationship with her little sister.  
  
A pedicure? Sure, I could handle that. Nails, at least I knew what that WAS. I wouldn't be able to curl Jordan's hair (however that could be done), but at least I could shape her nails and give her a nail polish, couldn't I? It was only a matter of finding the tools...  
  
I spent the rest of that afternoon digging through Rachel's neverending drawers and shelves and cupboards. Apparently there's more to this room than meets the eye, and pedicure stuff was completely IMPOSSIBLE to find. At last, the room drove me crazy.  
  
I left it and went into the hall, where a phone caught my attention. I picked it up, and started dialing my own number - home to me, Marco - but then stopped and hung up the phone again. It wouldn't be too good an idea to inform Rachel how I'd trashed her room to find pedicure tools. In stead, I dialed Cassie.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hello, it's Mar... Rachel. It Cassie there?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm Cassie."  
  
"Oh right! Sorry. Didn't recognize your voice there, Cass."  
  
"I see. Never mind that. How are you, Rachel?"  
  
"Fine! Yeah, just fine. Everything's great, actually. Listen, you've been to my house a lot, haven't you? Almost more often than me..."  
  
I made sure I didn't say anything suspicious, you never know when there's somebody listening in on your call.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose that's true," Cassie said. "Why d'you ask?"  
  
"Well... I completely forgot where I keep my pedicure stuff."  
  
Silence. Then finally, she said: "Your pedicure stuff? Right... Rachel, I don't think you need to groom yourself tonight. We've got school tomorrow after all, your nails are bound to break at some point anyways."  
  
"Yeah, well, I really wanna know where I keep my stuff," I said.  
  
"And I really think you should drop it. Why do you wanna give yourself a pedicure?"  
  
"I don't, I'm gonna give Jordan one!" I said enthusiastically.  
  
More silence. Then finally: "Oh dear. Right, yeah, sure. You know what, I'm coming over. I've been at your house enough times to know Jordan can be pretty hard to say no to."  
  
"Yeah, that's my sister all right," I grinned.  
  
About half an hour later, Cassie was at the door.  
  
I let her in, and as we were passing through the kitchen, Jordan met up with me. "When are you going to make dinner?" she asked. "I'm getting really hungry."  
  
"Aren't we supposed to wait for Sarah...?" I asked hesitatingly.  
  
"She's with grandma," Jordan replied. "You just don't pay attention anymore, do you?"  
  
"No, I don't," I grinned. "Sure, yeah. Dinner."  
  
As it turns out, dinner at Rachel's house meant a lot more than heating a pizza in the oven, like all normal people do. These people cooked potatoes, made sauce and fried meat. It was insane. I never would have managed that dinner if it wasn't for Cassie.  
  
"I've cooked before," she grinned as she finished the sauce and put the pot on the table. "Let Jordan know dinner's ready."  
  
"Jordan!" I called. "Dinner!"  
  
It was a rather absurd scene. Jordan and Cassie, along with what Jordan thought was Rachel, was having dinner around the kitchen table in Naomi's house. The whole scene felt really wrong, but in a lot of ways very amusing as well. I had to hold my tongue several times to avoid saying anything really sarcastic or blunt that would make Rachel look like an idiot.  
  
And later on, it was manicure time... I believe Cassie and I both found ourselves equally inexperienced in the matter, but it turned out not to be my biggest concern of the evening: Going to sleep was.  
  
After Cassie had left, I realized at some point I had to go to bed. And at yet another point, I would have to change clothes - I knew I couldn't spoil Rachel's reputation by letting her stay this day, the night and the next day in the same outfit. That would be like breaking a LAW.  
  
So finally, I manged to find a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt which I managed to wear in order to go to bed. It took me about fifteen minutes to change into it though, because I'd decided I didn't want to see Rachel in her underwear, so the changing happened with my eyes shut.  
  
Finally, however, I was ready to go to sleep.  
  
The last problem of the night was when Rachel's body decided it needed a bathroom break. I felt sick.  
  
At the day after, I realized I had to take Rachel to school.  
  
  
  
***  
  
There we are. Reviews, please! 


	5. Cassie: A Question of Replacement

Sorry it's been so long! I've just been really busy with a show our school is doing and other stories and exams and so on... But here's chapter five, anyways, read and review!  
  
Oh, and a comment to the reviews: A lot of you ask me why Marco and Rachel haven't thought of morphing each other's DNA and become themselves again, but I recall Applegate explaining stuff like this... When Tobias got the morphing power back, he could have morphed his human body and stayed permanently that way, but he would have lost his power to morph! That's what would happen with Marco and Rachel too if they decide to morph each other and pass the two hours limit. And hey, who knows how this swap is affecting their morphing anyway? It's a big mystery, lads...! ;)  
  
***  
  
  
  
CASSIE: A QUESTION OF REPLACEMENT  
  
  
  
It was lunch break. I sat in the cafeteria at a table with Jake, both of us eating in silence.  
  
Finally, I decided one of us had to speak. "So have you seen Marco today?"  
  
"You mean Rachel?"  
  
"No, I mean Marco, in Rachel's body. I haven't seen him."  
  
"I met Rachel in Marco's body earlier today."  
  
"Yeah, I met her too. I'm talking about Marco in Rachel's body," I argued.  
  
Jake looked at me. "No, I haven't." Then he turned his attention to the peas on his plate again. It was obvious he wasn't too happy about the situation, and I was about to confront him on the matter when I heard Rachel's voice behind me:  
  
"Finally, food! I've almost missed the cafeteria's food." Seconds later, she sat down next to me with a plate filled with food.  
  
"I take it you didn't get any breakfast this morning?" I asked.  
  
"Hey, Rachel's house is loaded with all this girly food and vitamines and all that, and I just couldn't bother with it. It's like a labyrith, trying to work your way out in there!" Then she dug greedily into her food with her fingers grasping the knife and fork, eating like some savage. It wasn't difficult to believe Marco was really in there.  
  
"Where have you been?" Jake asked Rachel's body.  
  
"Me showing up at this hour really says it all, doesn't it?" she replied.  
  
"Yeah, and it's suspicious," Jake said. "Rachel managed to get here on time, she's even trying to stay in character with your behaviour and everything. You not showing up before lunch hour is making me nervous."  
  
"Hey, what do you think I was doing?" Rachel asked, acting hurt. "Believe me, this isn't the body I wanna spend my time in. But I have no choice, as it is. And if I HAVE to spend time in this body, I don't wanna do it at school. Spending time at school already sucks, if not for doing it in this body."  
  
I spotted Marco's body moving around at the other end of the cafeteria, and waved him over. He took a seat and glanced suspiciously over at his nemesis who sat there eating like a pig. "You're giving me a bad reputation," he finally said. "That's disgusting."  
  
"It's called eating," Rachel replied. "But hey, your body's so perfectly skinny it doesn't surprise me you've never heard of it."  
  
"Hey!" Marco bellowed. "You watch it! If you so much as dare to INSINUATE that I..."  
  
"Calm down," Jake barked at them both. "You're drawing too much attention to us. Not that that's uncommon, but try to avoid it for once. We've got a situation here, right? So. Both of you okay then?"  
  
"Yep," Rachel said. "Pretty much.  
  
"I guess so, for now," Marco said.  
  
"Any trouble?" Jake asked.  
  
"With your sister, Rach," Rachel said, pointing an accusing fork covered with spaghetti towards Marco. "She's a real pain in the -"  
  
"You're just gonna have to live with that," Jake interrupted. "Because we've got a bad situation here. Listen, I've got something to tell you all." He caught eye contact with me. "The Drode showed up in my room last night."  
  
We all suddenly became a lot more serious. "What did he say?" I asked.  
  
Jake sighed. "He was cocky as hell, of course. So proud of his doings. I asked him how he had the right to swap Rachel and Marco, and he said Crayak and he'd found a loophole in those playing rules of theirs and the Elimist's. Apparently, we so strongly asked for it, he claims, he had a right to give us what we wanted for the price of something he wanted."  
  
"A stupid swap," Rachel said.  
  
"Right. It amuses the Drode like you wouldn't believe. He couldn't stop laughing. I almost jumped out to choke him, but didn't because it would probably have made Rachel and Marco remain like they are forever."  
  
"But we might not have to?" Rachel in Marco's body asked with anticipation.  
  
"Maybe not," Jake replied. "I argued for a while with the Drode, and I actually think he's gonna get into some trouble if he leaves the two of you this way. The rules, once again. But he doesn't wanna give up his price, so to speak."  
  
"So what does he want?" I asked.  
  
"He wants some other swap," Jake replied. "If the two of you are to be yourselves again, he wants us to give him two others we would allow him to swap brains, two that would be as, how did he put it, as amusing as Rachel and Marco to swap."  
  
Rachel rolled her eyes. "We're amusing, are we? Oh, I'm so glad! We get to please little Drody-boy, that's all that matters to me! I'm glad I'm of help!"  
  
"Shut up," Marco said, then he turned to Jake. "So all we have to do is fine two people in the world who can't stand each other, and allow the Drode to swap their brains? That will be easy! There's plenty of people in the world who hates each other."  
  
"Honestly," I interrupted. "Have you all gone insane? We can't just say yes to this!"  
  
They all looked at me.  
  
"Listen," I said, "this is obviously some sort of big joke. Of course the Drode and Crayak aren't allowed to fool around like this! They can't be! I bet it's all a joke, and as soon as we give him some other brains to swap we'll learn it was all for nothing. And even if it isn't," I added, "we can't allow to innocent people to have their brains swapped just like that."  
  
"What, that's what happened to us!" Rachel's body argued. "And with all respect, we're saving the world here. I'm sure some other enemies can't have that claim."  
  
Marco nodded. "And I WON'T remain like this. There's no chance. I had to see Marco in his boxers yesterday! I'm still traumatized, I doubt I'll ever recover."  
  
"Look," Jake said, "I thought about it. I think we have to do this! We can't just hope it's all a joke. What if it's not? Rachel and Marco can't remain like they are now. We'll need to find someone who deserve to have their brains swapped, so I don't have to have that Drode come to my room every night."  
  
I leaned forwards and took Jake's hand in mine. "Look," I said. "I know you're stressed. All of this is affecting you."  
  
"Hey!" Rachel's voice said angrily.  
  
"But that doesn't mean we can let innocent people suffer from it! The Drode and Crayak always comes to you, and that's bad. But who really deserve to have their brains swapped like that?"  
  
"Especially not me," Marco commented.  
  
"Seriously, Jake," I said. "Who can we have the conscience to push this upon?"  
  
"We'll work someone out," Jake said. "The Drode'll be back to see me tomorrow evening. If we don't have a good replacement by then he'll leave Marco and Rachel as they are."  
  
After this we all went silent.  
  
Jake finished his food, then got up. "I suggest we ditch the rest of today's school," he said. "I don't know about you, but I wanna get the Drode and Crayak and their ideas as far away from us as possible. So I think we should go to Tobias and Ax and work all of this out."  
  
Marco and Rachel nodded, and I felt as though no one would listen to me.  
  
Maybe my moral was just too high.  
  
  
  
***  
  
What do you think? Reviews please! 


	6. Ax: How to find a Potential Swap

Hi, sorry it's been so long, but here's another chapter, so read and review please! :)  
  
***  
  
  
  
AX: HOW TO FIND A POTENTIAL SWAP  
  
  
  
My name is Ax.  
  
I was quite surprised when my human friends suddenly appeared in the forest, telling Tobias and myself that we had something important to discuss, right away.  
  
I knew a discussion would eventually come, because we had a serious issue on our hands: Rachel and Marco had changed minds, through Crayak's powers and his little associate the Drode.  
  
But it seemed as though my friends had found a solution to the problem. Or at least, a potential solution.  
  
"So what's going on then?" Tobias asked, in human morph, like myself.  
  
We were all gathered in the forest, Tobias, Cassie and Rachel sitting on big rocks while Marco, Prince Jake and myself were standing. I must admit although I enjoy spending time in my human body to some extend, it takes a while to adjust sitting down. I prefer standing.  
  
Besides, then I could focus all my attention on the bun Rachel had given to me as they'd arrived. She'd said she didn't want to break the policy and make the body any richer, only to have Marco punch her in the stomach.  
  
"You're saying we can just choose whoever we will on Earth as a replacement and have the Drode swap their minds in stead?" Tobias said. "I don't believe it for a second. It can't be that easy."  
  
"It's not," Prince Jake said. "It can't be just anybody. It's got to be a good swap, like a swap that will really make the two of them annoyed with it. Or insane, rather, if I know this Drode correctly," he added quietly.  
  
"So we're practically near a solution," Rachel's voice said. "We just have to find it before tomorrow evening. Then we'll be all set and I can become handsome again."  
  
"You're more handsome now than you were before," Marco's voice commented. "And that speaks for itself, because my body is not handsome. Fair, maybe," he grinned, "but not handsome."  
  
"You know, handsome is actually a term which can be used on females as well," Rachel commented. "I read this book once..."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"... and it was set in the 16th century, and there they called one girl who was pretty for handsome. So haha, I win."  
  
Jake looked at her. "Marco?" he said. "Please focus, or I will have you castrated."  
  
Marco's face grinned. "Yeah, I've got the power," he said with a wink. "So behave."  
  
"Back to the case," Cassie said friendly. "I still don't think this is the right way to go. And it's not just me now, Tobias said he didn't believe it either. I really think we should come up with something else."  
  
"Why?" I asked, speaking for the first time. "This is a good solution. We will find two individuals who cannot stand each other, and we will hand them over to the Drode so he can change them into each other. That will solve all our problems."  
  
"Exactly," Rachel commented.  
  
"But don't you see it's just cruel!" Cassie argued. "Maybe this is exactly what Crayak wants us to do! Hand someone else over to profit from it. I mean, we're in this war, and we face the consequences. But innocent people who have nothing to do with it all, why should they be involved in all of this?"  
  
"They already are involved, they just don't know it yet," Rachel argued. "Face it, we're trying to save their lives here! They practically owe everything to us, if you think about it. So why shouldn't they have to make some sacrifices? My mother is persumed dead because of these creatures, that's my sacrifice!" She looked around, facing both Tobias and me for a second. "Tobias is a hawk," she continued, "for their sake, and Ax is about eighty light-years away from his own family and people for their sake. Why can't they sacrifice?"  
  
"I agree with the lunatic," Marco said. "Why shouldn't they sacrifice something?"  
  
"We know what's going on," Tobias said. "That's the difference. We have a choice, they don't."  
  
Prince Jake sighed. "This is a real, serious mortal dilemma. We disagree, as usual. Should we put it to a vote then?"  
  
I glanced at him. What was he thinking? He knew how the vote would turn out, he'd already seen four of us agreed on the issue. All of us knew it, but surely Prince Jake would usually hear all of us out, and then consider some better solution if we did not agree?  
  
Apparently, Cassie thought what I had thought. "Don't you care about those people we'll ruin the lives of? I still think the Drode's just messing around! And even if he's not, this is not the way to go."  
  
"It's the ONLY way to go," Marco said. "We haven't got any other solutions, this is all we have."  
  
"And the Drode IS serious," Prince Jake added with a dark gaze. "He came to see me. I spoke to him, I should know."  
  
Cassie got up and approached him. "I know he did, and I know this is tough for you because he and Crayak are always after you. And okay, so maybe he was telling the truth, maybe he will let us give the burden up to somebody else if we find the right people. But... But how can you wish to hurt someone like that? Like Tobias said, we have a choice, they don't." She put her arm in his, as if trying to comfort him. He gently backed away from her.  
  
Then he said: "We'll put it to a vote."  
  
I saw Rachel sighing. She - her now at the time being Marco, obviously - knew Prince Jake better than most of us. Inside her body there sat a guy who knew Prince Jake didn't follow his own normal procedure. But he chose, as I saw, not to comment it. Clearly Prince Jake wasn't handling the situation, and commenting it would only make things worse.  
  
Prince Jake raised his hand. "I vote we search for a replacement that we can give to the Drode tomorrow evening."  
  
Rachel raised her hand. "I do, too," she said.  
  
"Me too," Marco mumbled.  
  
Cassie looked around. "I vote we found another solution," she said.  
  
Tobias nodded. "Me, too."  
  
Prince Jake looked at me. "Go on, Ax. And please, don't tell me again you don't vote. Just state your opinion."  
  
I hesitated. Then finally, I spoke: "I vote for finding a replacement."  
  
Cassie and Tobias both looked down. I felt kind of guilty, although I had only announced my opinion on the matter. It wasn't intentionally going against my shorm. Every individual has his own right to speak his mind, and that is the way it works on Earth as well. Even though Cassie and Tobias weren't happy with the way things had turned out, and even though this meant we would have to ruin the lives of two humans.  
  
I told myself it was just the way it had to be.  
  
"Now all of you think about who we can replace Marco and Rachel with," Prince Jake said. "I'm sure there's billions of matches in the world the Drode will be happy with, we just need to find one of them in time, that's good enough."  
  
"What exactly are the demands?" Rachel asked. "How is these two guys' relationship supposed to be for it to be accepted?"  
  
Prince Jake looked around. "They don't have to hate each other, if I've understood it correctly. Just imagine a swap which will drive both of the parts insane. That's the demands, I think. Something which will annoy the two parts."  
  
"But that means practically everybody, doesn't it?" Marco's body, with Rachel's mind, asked. "Nobody wishes to be in another person's body."  
  
"You never know," Cassie whispered.  
  
"That's right," Rachel said, "some might do. Imagine an old stinking hobo entering the body of a wealthy male Calvin Kline-model. There's a swap at least one of them'd be pleased with."  
  
"All right, so not EVERYBODY then," Marco sighed.  
  
"Just make it perfect," Prince Jake interrupted. "I think we'll know when we have the perfect one. Just focus on that. Don't think of anything else. We'll keep in touch, and if not anything changes, we'll meet here tomorrow after school. It's Friday, so we haven't got too many classes. Right here, after school. All right?"  
  
We all nodded, and separated.  
  
As Tobias and I morphed back to our own forms, I saw my human friends leaving the forest, the four of them together. I thought I heard Rachel and Marco arguing over whether or not bikini was an acceptable outfit for Rachel to wear the next day, and I started wondering about what sort of people could use a swap on this planet, although basically I knew nobody.  
  
  
  
***  
  
There we are...reviews? ;) 


	7. Marco: The Solution

Oh my gods, I'm so sorry it's been so long since an update on this story! I've just been helping my friend with this Harry Potter-fic of hers (she's got this story she wanted to write, but she needed help having it done in English... :)  
  
Anyways, check out the chapter, lads...:  
  
***  
  
  
  
MARCO: THE SOLUTION  
  
  
  
"Jordan?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"If you were able to do magic... Like, for example, swap to people's minds, to make it really, really amusing - who would you swap?"  
  
She looked at me in the funniest way. "What?" she finally said.  
  
"Well," I said earnestly, turning in the couch, "think about it. Two people in the world who would really HATE to be each other, who's that?"  
  
"If I could swap to minds?" Jordan repeated. "Like, give them each other's minds?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'd swap you and me, then I could make your body shut up while I'm doing my homework."  
  
I sighed. "Oh ha ha, Jordan, very funny. You're the funniest sister a girl could ask for."  
  
I got out of the couch and moved into the kitchen. It was all driving me nuts. I was Rachel. I was walking around in her house, having her sisters and her mother believing I was their female relative. I had a woman's body and had forced myself - in the respect of Rachel's reputation - to put on a girl's perfume in the morning.  
  
Tomorrow night was our deadline. The Drode would come, and if we didn't have any swaps he'd appreciate he would let me stay as Rachel forever, most likely, and leave the rectless lunatic in charge of my gorgeously handsome one.  
  
"Rachel?" Naomi cried from the bathroom.  
  
It took me a moment to answer. It's not too easy, adapting to being called by a girl's name. "Yeah?" I finally yelled back.  
  
"I was wondering if you could help me with something," she said as she came out from the bathroom.  
  
I sat down by the kitchen table. "Uhm... sure," I hesitated. Help her with what? If it was doing her hair like on prom night or something, I would definitely refuse. Come to think of it, anything slightly girlish would be out of the question. In the last hours I had turned way too feminine to even discuss.  
  
Naomi sat down across from me. "I need your opinion on a case..." she began.  
  
"A case?" I said, surprised. I didn't believe a successful lawyer like Rachel's mother would be asking her daughter for advice on a case. But then again, maybe Rachel was good with law and stuff.  
  
(Not that I believed that for a second, Rachel would probably solve a lawsuit by morphing into an elephant and attacking the jury members.)  
  
"It's a matter of moral, really," Naomi went on.  
  
Oh, well. That makes Rachel all the better of a choice, doesn't it. Brilliance.  
  
"Yeah?" I said.  
  
"Well, I've been told to represent this man," Naomi began, "he's been sued by his uncle. The uncle says his nephew's been imitating him."  
  
"Imitating him?" I repeated. "How d'you mean?"  
  
"Well, the man - the nephew - I'm attorney for, he says he's such a big fan of his uncle he'll do anything to be just like him."  
  
"Oh really."  
  
Who would wanna be like their uncle? Hm. Maybe it's a really cool uncle.  
  
"The problem is, the uncle doesn't like his nephew imitating him. He says his nephew isn't trying to be LIKE him, he says he's trying to BE him. As in turning into his own uncle. Like he's become obsessed with it or something, I don't know."  
  
"So he's practically turned into his own uncle?" I asked.  
  
"Yes, pretty much," Naomi sighed. "Anyways, now the uncle has sued him to get his personality to himself again, so to say. The nephew doesn't care, though. He says he's got every right to try and be like his uncle, and he says he doesn't wanna become who he used to be."  
  
"Who did he use to be?" I asked, curiously.  
  
"A loser, some say," Naomi smiled. "Or, at least in his own opinion. It's a really weird situation, you know? He's so, I don't know, SMALL, compared to his successful and powerful uncle. He's like a messenger boy for his uncle, doing everything he says and admiring him, but all the same he wants to BE him. That's why he's done what he's done, and now the uncle has realised it and wants the nephew to knock it off. It's quite complicated."  
  
"Yeah, and insane," I added. "So what's the problem?"  
  
"I mean, is it morally correct of me to defend this uncle?" Naomi asked. "I just wanna hear your opinion, because I feel sort of sorry for the nephew. He's just trying to be like his rolemodel. The problem is, the rolemodel hates it." She smiled. "What do you think?"  
  
I thought about it for a second. I felt there was something familiar about what she was talking about. "Uhm... I think there IS a moral dilemma here," I finally replied, finally thinking clear. Had I really found a solution? It was possible...!  
  
"I think the nephew should be allowed to be like his uncle," I concluded to Naomi. "That's my opinion, mom. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to call Jake about something..." I got up and meant for the stairs to my room.  
  
"Jake?" Naomi said, turning at me. "I didn't know you used to call him in the evenings, is there something special going on?"  
  
"Er... yeah," I smiled, "but nothing big. Actually, I think I found a solution to it."  
  
* * *  
  
He picked up the phone at the third ring.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Yeah, hi, this is... oh yes, uhm, Rachel. Is Jake there?"  
  
"Sure, cousin, I'll get him."  
  
I heard Tom put away the phone as he went off to fetch Jake.  
  
"Hello?" he finally said.  
  
"Yeah, hi, it's Rach," I said.  
  
"Oh. Hey, Rachel. What's up?"  
  
"It's about our project work tomorrow," I replied. "You know, the one we agreed to meet at Cassie's and do tomorrow evening...?"  
  
"How could I forget," Jake muttered. "What about it?"  
  
"Well, I haven't got... all of the information, you know, so I was wondering if you could help me out?"  
  
He hesitated. "Sure. What do you wanna know?"  
  
"Well, I think I've found a possible good... angle. Mom inspired me," I added, smiling to myself. "But I need to know we're... allowed to use it, you know? So, I was wondering... Oh god, how should I put this..."  
  
"Just tell me what the problem is," Jake said, I could hear he was nervous. He understood perfectly well what I was talking about, and he understood there was a difficulty in explaining my situation.  
  
"Well," I said, trying once more. "If the angle we've chosen is a really, REALLY good one, and it... well, it meets the criterons, you might say... perfectly, at that. Would our teacher be able to object? I mean, there are certain rules, aren't there, and even he has to follow them... So if we found an angle that's just PERFECT, would he then have to go along with it, even if it wasn't to his personal liking?"  
  
Jake was quite for a moment. I could tell he was thinking it over, trying to make sense of all the nonsense I'd been blabbering. Finally, he spoke: "Uhm... Yeah. I think so. If we give him a really great angle, something unexpecting I bet, too, that will be a really amusing... angle. Yeah, he'd have to go along with it, he's got those rules, yeah. School rules. Has to follow 'em. He said that. Just make sure the angle's brilliant, and he'll do it. Why, have you got a great angle...?"  
  
"Yeah," I said eagerly. "Yeah, I do. It's brilliant. Our teacher's going to hate it, but he can't object to it, because of the school rules and all. He'll have to go through with it, am I right?"  
  
"Yeah. Yeah. If he finds it good, although he doesn't personally like it, he'll have to go along with it. That's what he said.  
  
"Great!" I beamed, and got off the phone.  
  
I'd solved it. I had really solved it!  
  
My discussion with Jake had turned out as I'd wanted it to: He'd understood my question. If the potential swap we offered was a good one, ironic, funny, insane, something like that, the Drode would have to go along with it, even if it was to be something he didn't personally like. These were the rules he'd given Jake, he had to follow them. He and Crayak are all about rules.  
  
I jumped around in Rachel's room for a bit, dreaming about getting back into my own body. Then I stopped in front of her body-length mirror and caught myself smiling with her face for the first time.  
  
"Hey, Rachel," I said to the mirror. "How's it going? You're hot, you know that?"  
  
She - I - nodded back at me. "Yeah," I said. "Yeah. But don't ever tell Marco that, or he'll go crazy. Or, well, the one inside Marco will go crazy, rather. Marco already knows, but he doesn't tell Rachel. Although it's actually Rachel standing here right now, telling her reflection these exact words."  
  
I paused for a second. Was I going insane?  
  
Yep, I thought. I was.  
  
But who cared? I had solved it!  
  
And tomorrow evening I would meet up with my friends by Cassie's barn, and we would get a visit from the Drode. Rachel and I would swap our bodies back, and the Drode would get his new swap...  
  
It was perfect.  
  
  
  
***  
  
There we are! Reviews, please? 


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